


Chicago Fire 26 Reasons Why

by adrestia_of_the_long_night



Series: One Chicago AU [1]
Category: Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago PD (TV)
Genre: Accidental Death, Adult Language, Ambo 61, Death of main characters, Drinking, Engine 51 - Freeform, Firehouse 51, Fires, Gen, PTSD, Shooting, Squad 3, Stabbing, Truck 81, Violence, Word prompt, curse words, firehouse, lost of firehouse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:15:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 26
Words: 6,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26093977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adrestia_of_the_long_night/pseuds/adrestia_of_the_long_night
Summary: A collection of 26 word prompts
Relationships: Matthew Casey & Kelly Severide, Matthew Casey/Kelly Severide
Series: One Chicago AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1894558
Kudos: 41





	1. A is for Arson

***

Severide stood in silence outside the remains of the warehouse that claimed the lives of nearly 90% of Firehouse 51, he could not believe that there was only four members left now and two were only alive due to the fact of a sprained ankle which caused two of his men to depart the warehouse moments before the building collapsed.

“Kelly,” Capp called out as the Squad 3 member walked up to were the Lieutenant was standing in silence. “It’s time to go.”

Tony stood in silence next to the Squad rigg as he watched the investigators comb through the wreckage in their search for the remains of the fallen members of Firehouse 51.

“How are we going to recover from this?” Kelly questioned his men as he and Capp rejoined Tony next to their rigg. “Where do we even begin to rebuild 51?”

“I don’t know Kelly,” Casey stated as he remained sitting in the rigg, due to his injures there was no way he was going anywhere without someone helping him. “First we recover and then we handle the rebuilding.”

“Right,” Kelly nodded as he gazed at the three other survivors from 51, and thought of how they had each survived that night. Tony being tasked with getting an injured Capp out of the warehouse, while he and Casey ended up stuck in an office on the top floor. They still did not know why Boden had entered the warehouse with Dawson and Brett, it was possible they had thought that Capp was more seriously injured then merely a sprained ankle.

“Their reporting that it’s arson,” Tony said quietly as he headed toward the driver’s seat while Capp and Severide headed toward their seats, Casey was silent, it was by sheer dumb luck that the Truck Lieutenant had survived, he had opted to go after Kelly when the Squad Lieutenant had reported that he had been trapped in an office on the top floor and needed help.

***


	2. B is for Badge

***

Casey watched as the sun rose over the nearby lake, the only sensation that he currently felt was the bite of his badge in his grip. He had nearly thrown the badge into the water half a dozen times over the past few weeks but something had stopped him each and every time.

“Case,” Kelly called out as he walked over toward the Truck Lieutenant who turned to face him when he had called out his name.

“Severide,” Casey replied as he used his voice for the first time since he had come to the lake. “Why are you here?”

“It’s time to come home,” he replied as he took in the now fully recovered Truck Lieutenant.

“Home to what?” Casey countered, “I have nothing left, my MEN are all dead, Boden, Brett, Dawson, Cruz…” he trailed off as he couldn’t continue listing the names of the dead.

“You have ME,” Severide countered hotly as he jabbed his hands into his pockets as he forced himself to stand toe-to-toe with his fellow Lieutenant. “We still have Squad 3,” while the squad had lost Cruz, they had nearly a complete rigg, and according to the CFD if they got a fourth man then Squad 3 could start responding to calls while the Brass started to work on finding replacements for the Battalion Chief, Truck 81, Engine 51 and Ambo 61.

“So, I remain behind when you respond to calls?” Casey shook his head in denial, “I refuse to stand by and wait for them to rebuild the firehouse, it’ll take them almost a year before they get permanent replacements…” he trailed off as Kelly shook his head, “What?”

“Casey, you’re going to be the fourth man for Squad 3,” Kelly stated bluntly as he kicked at a rock. “Your completely qualified and the CFD said that you can ride with us while they situate 51.”

“So, I would report to you?” Casey sounded somewhat amused at that.

Kelly shrugged in response, “According to the paperwork I will still be the Squad Lieutenant but we’ve always had no issues working together at scenes and our ranks have never interfered before.”

“I am NOT calling you boss,” Casey warned as he pushed his badge into his pocket.

“Wouldn’t expect you too,” Kelly countered with a grin as he dragged Casey toward his car.

***


	3. C is for Chicago

***

Casey was silent as he approached the vacant Firehouse, there was a mass of flowers, balloons and signs littered around the front of the Firehouse.

He walked up towards a table that was situated near a makeshift tent and was shocked to see that it contained hundreds of signatures of people who had come to the memorial service that had been held for the fallen members of 51 shortly after the fire. He knew that he couldn’t remain there for long, Kelly would worry and would come searching for him yet again, the Squad Lieutenant had barely let him out of his sight since they had returned to the city after Casey had accepted the temporary position with Squad 3.

While, he had never had an interest in being a member of Squad at least he was with people who understood what it was he was feeling and he hadn’t been thrown into the deep end yet with a completely new Truck crew. He knew that in time he would have to deal with that ultimately but he was glad that it wasn’t going to be happening anytime soon since they were still trying to recruit a new Battalion Chief.

***


	4. D is for Denial

***

Capp watched in denial as the warehouse collapsed in front of him and Tony, “NO!” he shouted as he tried to jump up but was prevented by the grip of Tony’s hand on his arm.

“Where’s Boden?” Tony questioned as he looked around the firetrucks and empty ambulance. “Where the hell is Dawson and Brett?” he continued as Capp called out for support to their location at the warehouse.

“What?” Capp turned confused eyes at his fellow Squad member.

“Where’s Boden, Dawson and Brett?” Tony asked quietly as they turned toward the fallen warehouse with horror filling their eyes as they realized that their missing people must have been inside the warehouse at the time of collapse as well as the rest of their people.

***


	5. E is for Eternity

***

Severide came to buried underneath the remains of the warehouse, “Casey!” he shouted as he struggled to move within the confined space, he woke up in. How long had he been knocked out for, he wondered as he tried to reach for his radio, only to discover that it had been damaged in the collapse.

“Can anybody hear me!” he shouted, but was meet with the steady beeping of a PASS alarm going off toward his right. “Oh, god,” he muttered as he tried to shift the debris enough so he could get to the owner of that alarm.

Kelly had never been one to pray but he found himself praying to whatever entity there was that he would find Casey alive once he reached him.

***


	6. F is for Failure

***

Casey stood quietly in the back at Firehouse 51 and studied the three members of Squad 3 who were all standing around their rigg with their backs toward the Firehouse, they had refused to open it up, instead they had opted to utilize the front drive as they waited for Casey to arrive on station.

“Do you think he’ll come?” Tony questioned quietly as they looked up at the closed roll-up doors in front of them.

“He’ll be here,” Kelly replied as he glanced around for the missing member, “Casey!” he called out when he spotted his fellow Lieutenant approaching them silently.

“Hey, guys,” he was still unsure on his return but he refused to stand by and disappoint the surviving members of 51. “This is….” He trailed off as he tried to shrug off the comments that had been made in the reports blaming the dead for the near total annulation of the firehouse. A failure to lead, he remembered the quote when they had referenced Chief Boden’s decision to go into the fire with the two paramedics.

***


	7. G is for Grip

***

Severide scrambled to reattend a secure grip on the chapel’s roof, unfortunately the shingles started to fall off the side in a cascade which jarred his support rope from its position.

“Lieutenant!” Tony screamed as he started to make his way down toward the still unsecured Lieutenant who was currently sliding dangerously close to the edge of the roof. “CASEY! CAPP!” he shouted to the two other members of Squad 3 who were securing the victim to a backboard at the moment, both of their heads shot up at Tony’s scream.

Severide closed his eyes as he felt himself start to go over the edge but was jolted backwards with a fierce jerk which caused his head to bounce on the roof. “What…”

***


	8. H is for Hold

***

“Hold on,” Casey muttered as his face turned red from the strain of holding Severide from the neck of his turnout jacket.

“Case,” Severide twisted slightly and could see the strain in his eyes, and he could easily tell that Casey was talking to himself vs talking to Kelly. “Don’t let go,” he pleaded as he tried to find a handgrip to help pull him back up onto the roof.

“Severide!” Tony slide next to the two Lieutenants with an extra rope in his hands as he struggled to clip it to Severide’s belt, “Casey, you ok?” he shot a concerned look at the unusually quite Lieutenant.

“Hurry,” Casey replied as the strain of him holding Kelly nearly pulled his shoulder free from the socket but even as the pain reverted up his arm, he refused to loosen his hold on Kelly.

***


	9. I is for Injury

***

The members of Squad 3 were all gathered inside an exam room when Doctor Manning entered with an expression of surprise flickering across her face. “Hello,” she smiled as she looked around the room before settling on the firefighter in partial turnout gear sitting on the hospital bed. “And what happened to you?” she questioned as she gently took his arm in her hands and studied the abrasion on his back as well as the scrapes on his arm.

“I got clipped on our last call out,” he supplied as he glanced toward the exit as though hoping that he could leave but judging from the guys he wouldn’t get that opportunity, they would drag him back and sit on him if he tried.

“Let me get a nurse and we’ll get it cleaned and stitched right up for you,” she supplied as she quickly left the room and paused by Maggie who was standing nearby.

“How is he?” she questioned with a worried tone in her voice.

“He’ll be fine,” she replied with a slight frown, “Why did you let them all in the room?” she questioned the nurse, normally only a spouse or the parent of an underage patient would be allowed in the room during treatment.

“It’s Squad 3,” she muttered under her breath, jerking her head toward the side when she realized that she didn’t know what that meant. “They were the only survivors of their Firehouse,” she supplied as he glanced toward the curtain off area. “Three Squad members and one Truck member survived that inferno, afterwards they merged together to get the Squad back on duty.”

“Oh my god,” she muttered as the horror dawned in her eyes, she had heard of what had happened but hadn’t realized that it had been her patient.

“Word of advice,” Maggie offered, “If you get any them in here again as your patient, just keep them together as much as possible unless you want to deal with your patient doing a runner or place them together as roommates.”

“Understood.”

***


	10. J is for Jail

***

Antonio Dawson could hear the ruckus before he was permitted into the prisoner lock-up at the 21st district. As soon as he turned the corner he was greeted by the sight of Casey, Severide, Capp, and Tony all lined up with their arms hanging outside the bars of the cell they were locked in, judging by the smell that was emitting from them, they were all four sheets to the wind.

Shaking his head as he thought of Gabby and how she would have loved this he commented loudly, “So, what exactly caused this?” he smirked when they all moaned at the noise.

“It wasn’t our fault,” Casey supplied as he pointed toward the next cell over.

Antonio walked past them and was greeted by the sight of two equally drunk paramedics, “And who is this?” he questioned.

“Their evil,” Severide called out only to be shushed by Casey.

“Paramedic Emily Foster,” she waved her hand from the bed she was laying on.

“Paramedic in Charge Allison Rafferty,” waved another arm from the corner of the cell.

“I see,” he looked closer between the two and was startled to see the emblem for Ambo 61 on their jackets.

“The boys are just mad that we out drank them,” Foster called out, even though it caused both her and Rafferty to moan at the noise.

***


	11. K is for Karma

***

“What do we do with it?” questioned Foster as she and Tony looked at the bundle of blankets that was moving around in the cardboard box that Rafferty had just placed on the Squad table.

“I don’t know,” Rafferty shrugged in reply as they jumped when the Squad rigg pulled into the firehouse behind them.

“What are you two doing over there?” called out Severide as walked toward them with the rest of Squad trailing closely behind him.

“Can we keep him?” Foster asked as she pulled out the puppy that had been buried in the blankets.

“No,” Severide shook his head and glanced toward Casey for back-up even as Capp and Tony moved closer in order to pet the puppy in Foster’s arms.

“Don’t look at me,” he held his hands up, “I’m not in charge.”

“I’m not either,” Severide interjected when they turned to look at him.

“We can settle this,” Foster commented, “Who become Lieutenant first?

“What?”

“Who promoted first?” she questioned, slightly stunned when they looked at each other in confusion.

“Why does that matter?” Casey asked.

“Whoever is more senior, is in charge,” she replied as she glanced between the two Lieutenants.

“Neither,” they replied in unison.

“Come on guys,” Rafferty tried as she looked over at Capp and Tony, who both were looking on in interest. “Who made Lieutenant first?”

“We made it at the same time,” Severide supplied.

“Ok,” Foster sighed, “Who put it on first then?”

At that question Severide and Casey looked at one another and both looked as though neither wanted to reveal that piece of information to the group.

“Tony, Capp?” Rafferty questioned the two silent Squad members, but they both raised their hands in refusal. “It can’t be a secret?”

“It’s not a secret,” Casey offered as he exchanged a long look with Kelly, “But the information, won’t solve anything, either.”

“Why not?” Foster asked.

“Cause, we got promoted at the same time,” Kelly revealed, “Literally.”

“How?” Rafferty questioned, “They only pin one person at a time…” she trailed off in confusion.

“It’s a long story,” Casey replied as he glared over at Kelly in remembrance of their promotion ceremony.

“It wasn’t my fault!” Kelly defended his past self, “It just happened that way…”

“it wasn’t mine either!” Casey countered.

“Come on, you guys.”

“Boden said it was karma,” Tony interjected as he reached over for the puppy, and then headed toward the kitchen in order to get it some food and water. “And technically, it was Boden’s fault.”

“Not exactly,” Severide shrugs as Casey nodded his head in agreement as they headed inside the Firehouse.

“No, way,” Foster called out after them, “You have to tell us the story!”

***


	12. L is for Lessons

***

Firefighter Candidate Blake Gallo and Firefighter Candidate Darren Ritter both looked at one another in confusion, before they turned their combined gazes toward Firehouse 51 and the loan firetruck that was residing within.

“Firefighter Candidate Darren Ritter,” Ritter introduced himself with a smile.

“Firefighter Candidate Blake Gallo,” Gallo replied, “Did headquarters assigned two candidates here by accident?” he wondered as they headed inside.

“Who are you?” questioned Tony when he spotted the two visitors enter the firehouse.

“We’re the Firefighter Candidates that just got assigned here,” Ritter supplied, “but I think somethings wrong with one of our assignments, cause two candidates don’t get assigned to the same shift in the same firehouse…” he trailed off when the firefighter looked as though he was struggling not to laugh.

“Lieutenants!” he yelled, “It happened AGAIN!”

“What?” Gallo and Ritter exchanged confused glances.

“Tony,” he introduced himself as he gestured toward the three men approaching them.

“You must be Firefighter Candidate Blake Gallo and Firefighter Candidate Darren Ritter,” Casey summarized as he went ahead and introduced the men around him, “I’m Lieutenant Casey, Lieutenant Severide, Capp and Tony,” he pointed to each as he called out their name, “Rafferty and Foster are both on a call right now.”

“Lieutenant, something must be wrong with our assignments,” Gallo stated as he gestured toward Ritter with growing confusion. “There can’t be two Candidates assigned to the same shift.”

“Yes, there can be,” Severide interrupted as he collapsed in a chair around the table. “51 has had two candidates before with no problems…” he trailed off when Casey struggled to hold in his laughter. “Casey.”

“No problems?” Casey smirked as he recalled Boden’s threats to get both of them reassigned if they didn’t stop causing trouble.

“We didn’t burn the Firehouse down,” Severide replied.

“Not for lack of trying,” Capp supplied as he and Tony exchanged looks as they recalled some of their Lieutenants more interesting activities when they were candidates. “51 has already learned our lessons when it comes to dealing with having multiple Candidates at the house at once.”

“Yeah,” Tony nodded in agreement, “You two can’t be any worse than the trouble duo over there,” as he gestured toward the now blushing Lieutenants who were looking everywhere but at their fellow firefighters.

Gallo frowned when he looked around, “Where’s the truck?”

“It’s in for repair,” Casey replied, “Squad is going to help train you with with some drills while we wait for 81 to be returned.”

“Maybe we can steal one of them?”

“No way Capp,” Severide interrupted before Casey had the chance, “no stealing Truck’s guys until we’re fully manned up, got it?”

“Got it Lieutenant,” Capp and Tony acknowledged in unison.

***


	13. M is for Misery

***

“Tell me your joking?” Kelly asked when he looked at his father with dread in his heart.

“I’m the new Battalion Chief for 51,” Benny replied as he walked past his son without waiting for a reply.

“Kelly?” Casey leaned against the door to his office with a questioning look on his face, “Why’s Benny here?”

“Benny’s the new Chief,” he replied as he looked as though he wanted to throw up.

“Shit,” Casey twisted around to follow Benny as he headed down toward Boden’s or rather HIS new office, “out of everyone there is, they picked Benny?”

“I have no idea, maybe they just wanted to compound our misery?”

“You know what they say,” Casey commented as he wrapped his arm around Kelly’s shoulder in a one-sided hug, “misery loves company.”

***


	14. N is for Newborn

***

It was during the worst storm that Chicago had seen in decades when Ritter found her. She was located outside the firehouse and was bundled in a mismatch collection of blankets and towels, and once he overcame his disbelief, he gathered the newborn into his arms and ran into the firehouse. “I need help!” he screamed as he headed toward the kitchen nearly tripping over the firehouse dog, Mayday. “Move,” he gently shifted the husky mix out of his way as he was greeted by the concerned members of 51.

Severide whistles sharply and Mayday immediately goes to the Squad Lieutenant’s side, “What is it, Ritter?”

“Someone left a baby outside,” he commented as he gently laid the baby on the couch causing Foster and Rafferty to immediately start checking the baby over for any injuries.

“Gallo, go grab the newborn kit!” Foster ordered, “Ritter go grab some clean blankets from the bunkroom.”

“On it.”

“Going.”

“Hello there little one,” Rafferty smiled as they finished checking the baby over and couldn’t find any signs of injuries, “We have a beautiful little baby girl and she looks to be approximately two days old.”

***


	15. O is for Oscar

***

“What is that?!” demanded Kelly when he spotted the newest addition in the back of the ambo, both Foster and Rafferty looked as though they were going try to ignore what the Squad Lieutenant had spotted on their gurney.

“What?” Foster questioned as she looked everywhere except at the bundle of fur on the gurney.

“The cat?” Severide commented as he was joined with Casey, Capp and Tony, who were all looking at the cat in sudden interest.

“His name is Oscar,” Rafferty replied with a straight face.

“Oscar? Why Oscar?”

“Because we found him in a trash can?” the Paramedics said in unison.

Casey looked down at Mayday who had pushed his way up onto the ambulance’s bumper and was staring at the cat in captive interest. “Kelly,” once the Squad Lieutenant turned to look at him, he pointed down at the dog who was trying to make friends with the Firehouse’s newest addition.

“Damn it,” he sighed, “Your responsibility, take him to the vet, and feed him,” he pointed at the Paramedics, “Me and Case already pay for Mayday, so Oscar’s on you two. Just make sure you give him a bath!” he called over his shoulder as he headed back towards his office, Mayday trailing behind.

“Welcome to the family, Oscar.”

***


	16. P is for Police

***

Sergeant Voight was silent as he led the Intelligence unit into the hospital’s waiting room, “Police,” he displayed his badge as he moved toward the nurse’s station, “What’s going on?” he demanded when he spotted the nearby Security Guard who had his gun drawn and pointed at a nearby examination room.

“Two gunmen took over the examination room,” he relied as he glanced toward the officers in relief, “They have one doctor, a paramedic and the patient as hostages.”

“Which paramedic?” questioned Antonio suddenly, as he glanced over toward Maggie who looked as though she didn’t want to inform Antonio, “WHO, Maggie?!” he demanded as unease started spreading throughout his body.

“It’s Foster,” she revealed, “Ambo 61.”

“Who’s the doctor?” asked Halstead.

“Dr Manning,” she replied, as the stress seeped from the Detective’s face at the news that his brother wasn’t in the room.

“Let’s end this,” Voight stated as he glanced toward the lone paramedic who was sitting in the waiting room with a cellphone glued to her ear, “and fast before 51 arrives.”

***


	17. Q is for Quiet

***

The storm had caused an eerie quiet to spread throughout the city and gave the personnel of Firehouse 51 an easy shift so far.

The crew knew that one of the main reasons for the silence was that Benny was at home sick with the flu and been ordered by Dr. Halstead to remain at home for three shifts in order to allow his body to fully recovery from the virus. So far, no one had said anything aloud about that fact, but even Kelly was less tense than normal.

“Kelly,” Casey stuck his head into the Squad Lieutenant’s office with an easy-going smile.

“What do you need, Case?”

“Dinner,” he gestured toward the kitchen.

“No,” Kelly shook his head in denial.

“Yes,” Casey moved into his office and dragged him to his feet, “I told the candidates that we would handle dinner.”

“No,” he tried again even as he followed him toward the kitchen.

“Too late,” Casey countered, “Capp and Tony already heard and won’t let us back out.”

****


	18. R is for Rage

***

Casey was silent as he watched Kelly smash the mirror in front of him with his fist, sighing loudly he moved forward and gripped his clutched fist in his hands as he led the still angry Lieutenant toward the sink, “Calm now?” he questioned softly as he washed out the wound and grabbing the peroxide from the cabinet.

“Benny nearly wiped 51 out again,” he muttered, the fear was evident to Casey who shared the disbelief that Benny had made that call. It had taken both Severide and Casey to keep from attacking the replacement Battalion Chief and they had opted to override him at the accident scene. They had yet heard of what the repercussions were going to be of their actions, Benny had been locked in his office with the Commissioner since they had returned to the station after the call. “How’s the kids?” he questioned, referring to the two Candidates on Truck.

“Foster said that they are both fine, but that they are going to be staying overnight at Med to watch for signs of concussion,” Casey supplied with practiced ease as he finished wrapping Severide’s hand.

“They never should have been in there,” Kelly stated as he shook his head as though to clear it, “We’re still not fully manned up on Squad or Truck yet,” referring to the fact that both riggs only had a three-man team at the moment.

“Benny played with fire tonight,” Casey commented as they listed to the screaming match that was emitting from Benny’s closed office, “and the fire nearly won,” the unspoken awareness was that the only reason that any of them were still alive was that they had disobeyed Benny’s orders, Casey by going back into the building after Ritter and Gallo after the pair had an out PASS alert go off and then Kelly by going after Casey. After they had located the pair, they had ordered Capp and Tony to help pull the junior firefighters out of the inferno while they had stayed behind in order to free the trapped victim from the rubble while Benny yelled at them through the radio to get out.

***


	19. S is for Surgery

***

Severide sat in silence in the waiting room as he waited for the doctors to come out and give him a status update on Casey’s condition, the Truck Lieutenant had gotten hit by a beam in a fire on their last run and Kelly was terrified that he had reinjured his head. To make matters worse though, he wasn’t able to get a status update from any of the nurses because unfortunately there wasn’t anything to update him on yet. Casey was still in surgery and that was the only thing any of them knew at present.

“Come on, Case,” he muttered as he watched the clock slowly tick.

“Family of Matt Casey?” called out Dr Halstead.

“Here,” Kelly held up a hand as he moved forward to intercept the doctor, “I’m Kelly Severide.”

“Are you a relative?”

“I’m his next of kin as well as his medical proxy,” Kelly replied dryly.

“Ok,” Dr Halstead replied, “Casey made it out of surgery just fine, and there are no injuries to his head according to the MRI.”

“Thank god,” Kelly closed his eyes in silent thanks. “Can I see him?”

“Of course,” he gestured for him to follow him toward Casey’s room.

***


	20. T is for Trauma

***

“Damn it, hold on Lieutenant!” pleaded Rafferty as she struggled to stem the bleeding from the gunshot wound to his abdomen. “Foster!” she called out to her fellow paramedic who was struggling with her own patient across the yard.

“He’s bleeding out!” she called back as she secured a pressure bandage on it. “We need to get them to the hospital!”

“What the hell happened?” Severide demanded as he stormed up to the scene.

“Our friend over there decided to shoot up the scene,” she gestured with her head toward the teenage male who was currently in the back of a squad car.

“Damn it,” Severide muttered as he gripped Casey’s hand in his.

“He’ll be fine,” Rafferty promised as he called over to Tony to grab the backboard. “He pushed me out of the way,” she informed the Squad Lieutenant.

“Sounds like Case,” he replied as he moved to help her get him secured on the backboard.

“Foster, I need to get Casey to the hospital, how’s your patient?”

“Stable,” Foster called back, “Go, I’ll wait for back-up.”

“Copy,” she called back as she and Severide loaded Casey into the back of the ambulance. “Your qualified, right?” she questioned.

“What?”

“EMT?”

“Yes,” Severide replied with a frown forming on his face.

“Can you manage the back of the ambo?” she questioned, “or do you need me in the back?”

“I got it,” Severide nodded.

“Good,” the PIC acknowledged as she slammed the doors closed on the two Lieutenants before she ran to the driver’s seat.

“This is Ambo 61, we have an incoming Trauma patient, gunshot wound to the abdomen,” she called out over the radio as she peeled out of the street just as another ambulance was turning into the street.

***


	21. U is for Unwell

***

“If your feeling unwell Ritter, then you should just go home and rest,” Casey ordered after he had caught the candidate throwing up in the bathroom for the third time that shift.

“Lieutenant…” he trailed off when Severide appeared over Casey’s shoulder and they formed a united front.

“GO HOME,” Severide stressed and he tugged Gallo out from behind him, “Gallo is going to take you home and get whatever supplies that are necessary for your recovery,” he tossed a harden look at the kid.

“Yes, Lieutenant,” Gallo shallowed his initial refusal and helped Ritter to his feet as they headed toward his car.

“I’ll let Benny know we’re down two firefighters,” Kelly sighed as he headed toward his father’s office, he paused mid-step, turned slightly and grabbed Casey’s arm and started to drag him with him.

“Kelly!” Casey scrambled to keep up with the Squad Lieutenant’s pace.

“I’m not going in there by myself,” he tossed over his shoulder, he only let go once they were in the doorway to Benny’s office.

“Jerk,” Casey muttered under his breath as he followed him inside.

***


	22. V is for Volunteer

***

Severide looked around the once abandoned Firehouse, in the small town of Oaks Ridge, “Casey….”

“Don’t,” he pointed at his fellow Lieutenant, “This one is all on you,” he replied as he recalled the fight between Benny and Kelly the previous week, “Why you had to bring ME into your fight with Benny, I do not know.”

Kelly smirked as he looked down before returning his gaze toward him, “Cause, it pisses Benny,” he revealed, as they stood in tandem and watched the approaching volunteers. “Let’s do this,” he sighed as they headed to intercept the group.

“Hello,” Casey smiled as he shook hands with the five men, who were all wearing street clothes. “I’m Matt Casey and this is Kelly Severide,” he gestured toward the still silent Squad Lieutenant next to him, “I understand that you’re planning to reopen the Firehouse?”

“That’s right,” the youngest member nodded, “There was a fire a couple of weeks ago, it took Firefighters over an hour to respond,” he glanced toward the older male next to him, “it was…”

“We lost eleven people in that fire,” the older male replied, with tears forming in his eyes as the memories took over again, “I’m Fred Masterson.”

“Corey Masterson.”

“George Adams.”

“Zack Thomas.”

“Quincy King,” the teen commented as he looked to his left with a questioning look in his eyes.

“Quincy Thomas,” Zack corrected, “He’s my nephew,” he glanced toward the others before continuing, “we’re working on getting the name changed officially.”

Casey nodded as he glanced toward Kelly in as they recognized the last name of the arsonist who had caused the fire according to the report they had read on their trip down that morning.

“Alright,” Kelly clapped his hands together, “Let’s get to work,” as he led the way toward the Firehouse.

***


	23. W is for Whiskey

***

The alcohol was free flowing as the members of the Oaks Ridge Volunteer Fire Department celebrated the end of their training with Casey and Severide.

“Thanks for coming down here,” commented Fred as he took a shot of whiskey and then slamming the empty glass on the counter.

“Your welcome,” Casey commented as he finished off his shot as Kelly finally came back from his call, “Problems?” he questioned with a frown.

“No,” he shook his head as he gestured for another round of shots, “Benny was just checking in on us,” he glanced up as though he was praying for divine help with his father, “again.”

“Why send us down here if he was going to call us all the time?” Casey mused, as he excepted another set of shots, he passed one over before downing his.

“Who knows?” Kelly replied as he downed his before taking a seat with a groan, “he loves to make my life a misery.”

“Mine too,” Casey replied as he glanced down at his ringing cell phone and spotted the name ‘Benny’ on the display, “Kelly…”

“I may have hung up on him,” Kelly supplied as he set his head on the counter as he waited for Casey to pick up the call.

“What happened to cause the rift?” Casey questioned as he ignored the call.

Kelly’s face turned blank as he refused to look up form the counter, “Do you remember when we got hurt on scene a couple of weeks ago, and we had to go to Med for treatment?”

“Yeah.”

“Benny tried to get information on my injury and Will was forced to tell him that he didn’t have permission,” he paused and accepted another shot before continuing, “well Benny went to Maggie and she basically told him that he had no say-so on my care, and that everything went though you.”

“You never told him?”

Kelly shrugged, “I never thought about it and he never asked! I think that he just assumed that because he was my father that gave him the authority, he didn’t like it when he realized he didn’t.”

“That’s why he asked me who had authority to make calls about my health care,” Casey blurted out as realization came to him, “I couldn’t figure out why my having you listed seemed to bother him so much.”

“Yeah,” Kelly replied as he continued to tell the rest of the altercation with Benny, “he apparently questioned Maggie about whether or not he would have been informed of my condition if something major happened to me, she told him that he wouldn’t have been,” he looked down at his cell that was going off and let out a frustrated sigh, “He has been on my case to change it or at the very minimum to have him added, I told him that I wouldn’t.”

“Kelly…”

“No, Case,” he shook his head, “Benny made his choices years ago, he doesn’t get to come in decades later and pretend to be a caring and concerned father.”

Casey reached over and shut off his cell phone and then turned his off as well, after placing both cells face down on the counter, he motioned to the bartender for another round of drinks, “Drink up,” he gestured as he requested the bartender to leave the bottle, “We’re going to need that.”

***


	24. X is for X-ray

***

“Is it broken?” questioned Gallo as he studied Dr Halstead as he approached him carrying his X-rays in his hand.

“Let’s see,” Will replied as he placed the X-ray’s on the light board near the bed.

“Don’t play games with me Doc, just tell me,” pleaded the firefighter as he followed the doctor around the hospital room.

Will approached him and tugged a chair next to the bed, “It’s hairline fracture,” he revealed as he reached for his wrist, “It’s going to be in a brace for a couple of weeks while we wait for it to heal.”

“Damn it,” Gallo muttered to himself as he watched him start to place the brace on his wrist, “I’m going to get sidelined.”

“It’s good that you came in and got it looked at instead of ignoring it,” Will revealed, “you could’ve seriously injured it and been out for months instead of a couple of weeks.”

“The Lieutenant ordered me to come in,” he replied with a grin, “Severide doesn’t play games when he thinks your injured.”

Will laughs to himself at that, “Kelly and Matt have both dealt with hidden injuries before.”

“They have?” the curiosity in his voice was apparent to the doctor.

“I am NOT telling you anything,” he countered, “My goal is to remain on their good side.”

***


	25. Y is for Yankee

***

The members of Firehouse 51 stared in disbelief at the sight in front of them, they had been called out to a brawl at a local sports bar but were mildly confused as to why they needed the ladder truck as well. Upon their arrival at the scene it was obviously apparent as to the reason and the members of 51 struggled to hold in their laughter at the sight of a Yankee’s fan who had been strung up a flagpole outside the bar by the New York Yankee backpack they were wearing.

The terror in the drunk man’s eyes was covered by his embarrassment as his friends took videos of his rescue by the Chicago Fire Department.

“You won’t tell anyone?” he pleaded as he spotted Casey and Severide coordinating his rescue from the ground.

“No, sir,” Casey called out even as a News van pulled up with a camara crew jumping out in order to record the rescue before Casey even managed to finished reassuring the trapped man.

“My WIFE is going to murder me,” he moaned as he threw upon the paramedics who were directly below him.

***


	26. Z is for Zeke

***

Kelly was silent as he and Casey silently studied the sleeping baby laying in the car seat in front of them, “What do we do?” questioned Kelly hesitantly as he glanced toward the Truck Lieutenant who was still in his sleeping sweats he had been in when Kelly came pounding on his door early that morning.

“We?” Casey tossed back as he tore his eyes away from the baby, and glanced at the Squad Lieutenant who had been in denial since his panicked arrival an hour ago. “Did they give you any paperwork?” he asked quietly, he didn’t get the rest of the question out before Kelly shoved the envelope at him. He opened the envelope and poured the contents on the table, and started to ready through them, “Lily Rose Templeton and Kelly Severide,” he read off the parents listed on the provided birth certificate, “Do you…”

“No,” Kelly shook his head in denial, “I don’t remember the name,” he supplied, “The CPS worker and the Lawyer just shoved the baby at me and left,” Kelly replied, “I haven’t been with anyone since…” he trailed off as the memories of the past year came to the forefront of his mind. “It’s been almost 18 months, and the baby is two months, so that’s 11 months,” he quickly did the math in his head.

Casey frowned at the news and returned his attention to the birth certificate, “Zeke Severide,” he read off the baby boy’s name. “Do you want to do a blood test?”

“I do a blood test, the baby goes straight into care,” Kelly replied, “The mother is dead and she has no living family members, and the only information is what is on the birth certificate and that letter,” he gestured toward the opened letter on the coffee table.

“So, what’s our plan?”

****


End file.
